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UVALDE LEADER-NEWS (Texas) 09 May 05 Uvalde veterinarian helps couple with reptiles (Margaret Palermo)
Susan and John Easley seem like ordinary pet lovers. They have a couple of cats - one named Roadkill and a blind one named Ray Charles.
"Roadkill almost was roadkill when we got him," said Susan during an interview at Southwest Texas Veterinary Medical Center Monday.
But cats, even cats with extraordinary names, are fairly normal pets. What sets the Easleys apart is something else entirely.
They were at the vet clinic Monday to get an ultrasound on their Gila monster. Veterinarian John Barnes said he was trying to determine if the creature was a male or female.
Asked if the Gila monster had a name, Susan replied that that was the idea behind the ultrasound, to determine the creature's sex so they could give it an appropriate name.
The couple has hopes of getting a license to breed the creature, but have to know what they need to make a pair.
She said they have only had the Gila monster for a couple of months.
"It has been my dream animal for years," she commented. John Easley said the animal has a 20- to 30-year life expectancy.
Susan said she is not sure if the Gila monster, like many other reptiles, continues to grow throughout its life.
"It seems to grow very slowly," she said, explaining that the one they have now is 4 to 5 years old.
Gila monsters, for those who are unaware, are poisonous.
"I'm not sure if it's a neurotoxin or not," said John.
A quick search of the Internet revealed that Gila monster poison is, indeed, a neurotoxin.
Neurotoxins attack the central nervous system, though Susan said the Gila monster really has to work to get enough poison into a person to cause real damage.
"They don't have fangs, just teeth," she said. "They really have to chew on you, though it is painful when they bite you."
The poison is produced by glands in the lower jaw. The lizard's bite does not release poison unless the jaws are in the right position for the grooved back teeth to transport the venom into the bite wound.
John said the Gila monster the couple brought with them from Del Rio to Uvalde to have checked is a reticulated Gila monster.
The reticulated variety of Gila monster resides primarily in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts.
The other type, the banded Gila monster, is a native of the Mojave Desert.
The cats and Gila monster are not the only pets the couple has.
They also have an Egyptian cobra and an African bush viper that's a bright green. Both are extremely poisonous.
"We've got tortoises, and a monitor lizard over five feet long," said John.
And there's a 4-foot Nile crocodile waiting at home.
"We'll bring him in to let you check him one of these days," John said.
Susan said the Gila monster is an easy reptile to care for.
"It only eats about once every 10 days," she said.
For the ultrasound, the Gila monster had to fast.
"We had to wait to feed it, because you can't do an ultrasound through a full gut," she said. "But we'll get you a nice fat mouse when we get home," she promised the lizard.
The ultrasound itself was inconclusive, though Barnes said he thought the creature was probably male. "It doesn't look anything like the picture," he said, referring to a picture of a Gila monster ultrasound brought in by the Easleys as a reference.
Uvalde veterinarian helps couple with reptiles

This article led to the return of stolen gila monsters!
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Tim Cole
www.Designeratrox.com/
www.AustinReptileService.net
www.AustinReptileExpo.com/
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